The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today dismissed an application by the government for stay of an order to surrender property worth more than RM32 million to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) and eight others.  

Justice Datuk Ghazali Cha, who made the decision, said the court was satisfied with grounds given during the Nov 4 proceeding.

He said the arguments given by deputy public prosecutor Robert Pasang Alam, who represented the government, for the application were baseless and that there was no special reason to allow the stay.

The prosecution had failed to show the special circumstances for the stay, he added.

On Nov 4, Ghazali dismissed an application by the government to seize the property which belonged to KDSB, two individuals and six companies involved in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Ghazali dismissed the application on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove that the property was acquired through illegal activities.

In striking out the application, he ordered the release of the frozen assets, comprising cash, cheques and land, and for the property to be returned to the respondents.

Following the decision, the prosecution filed for a stay of the order pending its appeal in the Court of Appeal.

The respondents named in the application are KDSB, Transshipment Megahub Berhad, Coastal Skyline Sdn Bhd, Wijaya Baru Aviation Sdn Bhd, Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd, Wijaya Baru Construction Sdn Bhd, Bintulu Member of Parliament Tiong King Sing, Law Ka Hing and the Selangor State Development Corporation .

They are represented by lawyers Prem Ramachandran, K Kumandran and Shamsul Sulaiman.

- Bernama